Profiler (TV series)

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Profiler
Samantha Waters and the Profiler logo
Genre	Drama, Crime
Creator(s)	Cynthia Saunders
Starring	Ally Walker Robert Davi Julian McMahon Roma Maffia Peter Frechette Erica Gimpel Jamie Luner
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	83
Production
Running time	approx. 42min, hour with commercials (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 29, 1996 – July 1, 2000
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Profiler was an American crime drama that aired on NBC from 1996 to 2000. The series followed the exploits of a criminal profiler working with the fictional Violent Crimes Task Force based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ally Walker starred as Dr. Samantha Waters during the first three seasons (1996-1999), and was later replaced by Jamie Luner during the show's final season. Robert Davi, Roma Maffia, Peter Frechette, Erica Gimpel and Julian McMahon co-starred throughout the show's run. In 1998, Evan Rachel Wood joined the cast as Samantha's daughter, replacing actress Caitlin Wachs.

Profiler shares a similar lead character and premise with the Fox Network series Millennium, created by Chris Carter. Both shows premiered at the beginning of the 1996-97 television season.

[edit] Plot

Dr. Samantha 'Sam' Waters (Ally Walker) is a forensic psychologist working for the Violent Crimes Task Force based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a 'profiler'. Having a unique gift to 'see' through the eyes of others which gives Sam a special insight into criminal minds. While she performs all of her duties diligently, her real motive lies in tragedy years earlier when her husband was murdered by a crafty serial killer known only as Jack of All Trades (played by character actor Dennis Christopher, who was fully unseen until the middle of the third season, when he poses as a buffoonish sheriff of a small California town). Sam is part of an elite team of pros led by her mentor, Bailey Malone (Robert Davi), and that also includes Detective John Grant (Julian McMahon), computer hacker George Fraley (Peter Frechette), and forensic pathologist Grace Alvarez (Roma Maffia). Together, they solve the toughest of cases. She lives in a former firefighter station, guarded 24/7, with her daughter Chloe Waters and her best friend Angel Brown (Erica Gimpel).

Other characters included Michael Whaley playing Nathan Brubaker in season one, a detective who was a former defense attorney. Shiek Mahmoud-Bey playing Marcus Payton in season two who was an FBI agent skeptic to Sam's methods. A Martinez appeared occassionaly in the first and second seasons playing Nick Cooper, an ATF bomb disposal expert who was Sam Waters love interest. Heather McComb appeared frequently in the first and second seasons as Francis Malone, the wayward teenage daughter of Bailey Malone. Traci Lords appeared throughout the second season playing an ex-convict named Sharon Lesher, who became the serial killer Jill of All Trades after she was recruited by Jack.

In season 4, after finally stopping Jack, Sam retired from the VCTF, being replaced by a new forensic psychologist, Rachel Burke (Jamie Luner). Rachel was a former FBI instructor at Quantico who also had Sam Waters skill of profiling. But unlike Sam, Rachel had a very brusque take-charge manner that alienated some of the team members. Rachel had her own life problems of being single and dealing with her self-destructive younger brother, Danny, who died from drug overdose near the end of the season. As the final season drew to a close, Rachel dealt with a renegade FBI agented named Joel Marks, played by Gregory Itzin, who stalked her, while at the same time, it appeared that the elite VCTF team might by shut down by the U.S. Congress for the high funds it took to operate.

[edit] DVD releases

A&E Home Video has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
Profiler - The First Season	21	July 29, 2003
Profiler - The Second Season	19	November 25, 2003
Profiler - The Third Season	21	April 27, 2004
Profiler - The Fourth Season	20	October 26, 2004